Clayton

CLAYTON, a township, in the parish and union of Bradford, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 3½ miles (W. by S.) from Bradford; containing 4347 inhabitants. This place, which is noticed in the Domesday survey, where it is written Claitons, as part of the manor of Bolton, comprises by computation 1600 acres, of which about 150 are arable, and the remainder high land affording tolerable pasture, with four or five acres of wood. It contains the straggling villages of Clayton and Clayton-Heights, situated on the acclivities, and part of Queen's-Head on the summit, of a bold eminence; and the population is chiefly employed in the manufacture of worsted goods, and in hand-loom weaving. There are seven quarries of slate and flagstone, of which two are worked underground; the stone is of excellent quality, and is brought up through a shaft in the same manner as coal. In the upper part of the township, called the Mountain, is a valuable coal-mine. The Leeds and Halifax old road passes through the township. A living has been instituted, which is in the gift of the Vicar of Bradford; and there are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, 7th edition, published in 1848.